Has anyone else experienced (and hopefully solved) problems trying to create movies using the mpeg files extracted from one of the Sony DCR Direct to DVD handycams using Pinnacle Studio 8 ? As far as I can determine, the only way to extract video from this camera is through the Pixela Image mixer application, which does allow me to create a folder full of mpeg-2 files. When I run Studio 8, first I get an inaccurate error message claiming to be related to a problem initializing my sound device, but I only get this error when opening one of these mpeg-2 files. I've experimented with this several times and if I open any other video files I do not get this error and everything works perfectly. Otherwise studio 8 operates well with these files, except that when you create the final movie, there is NO sound in the video at all. I've spent days going back and forth with some level 1 tech at Pinnacle who has been totally clueless and gotten nowhere. I've also downloaded and applied every patch I can find on their web site. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.
I have noticed the same problem with a sony dvd camcorder belonging to a friend. The problem seems to be that the camera records the sound in ac3 format and pinnacle can't read that. What needs to be done before you try to edit the file in pinnacle is convert the file to mpeg-2 with standard mpeg sound. The program that comes with the camera can do that, but only with one scene at a time, so that is a rather lengthy operation, unless you filled the entire mini-dvd in one take . I am still looking for a program that can convert these files in batches, but I've had no luck so far. If I do however, I will post it.
At the moment we are trying out VideoEdit Converter Pro (http://www.viscomsoft.com/products/videoeditconverterpro) which seems to be working well. It doesn't only convert the audio, it also joins the clips into one big file. I find this makes it easier to work with in studio 8. A demo is available for download from the website.
